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KiwiWonder 
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 Topic: Creating Magic
Posted: 12 September 2008 at 12:02am |
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I read an article in a magazine once (Mothering, but I forget which issue) about a mum who wrote notes, left small little gifts, glitter trails, etc, "from the fairies" to her daughter. For her, it was a way of enhancing a natural belief in faeries / magic whilst also getting special moments about her childhood for both of them to treasure later.
Have any of you done anything "magical" for you child / children? I guess with Christmas approaching the idea comes to mind of Santa and belief / disbelief etc... but I'm thinking more of a year round type thing... maybe an encouragement of an active imagination combined with natural curiosity / belief in wonders?
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kiwisj
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 12:41am |
My mum didn't do anything like that but my Nana had a pair of silver babies shoes on a necklace (they're a charm bracelet charm) and always told all of us that they belonged to Tinkerbell and that Tinkerbell lived in her garden. Now all the girls in our family have them and they've become a family tradition  I will probably tell my kids that Tinkerbell lives in Nana's garden as well 
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Callum - Dec 2008
Daniel - Oct 2010
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KiwiL
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 2:16am |
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Funny, I was having a conversation about this sort of thing myself tonight!
I am all for magic and imagination for kids. I still clearly remember getting a letter from the tooth fairy when I was younger. It was written on an envelope (and I can picture my own mothers handwriting now!!!). The letter was apologising for not having any money for my tooth, but asking me to please enjoy the cookies that were in the envelope.
We never had a lot of money growing up, but I can remember feeling sooooo special that the tooth fairy had written me a letter.
I can also remember spending hours (well, it was hours in my mind) staring out the window on Christmas Eve hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa. And believing in "Twinkle Star" - one of the bright stars in the sky that would listen to me talk about my dreams and sometimes granted wishes.
Oh, I have such happy memories from that. I definately want to encourage that in my boy... kids grow up far too quickly in my eyes and I really hope I can create some magic while he is young and impressionable.
Edited to fix the 2am spelling errors!!
Edited by kiwilaurie
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MrsMojo
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 8:07am |
What an adorable idea!
There's a few that we're adopting from my childhood:
~ Santa Claus
~ The tooth fairy
~ wishing fairies (those fluffy looking seeds that you pick up make a wish and then blow them away)
~ birthday candle wishes
There are also these flowers that grew in the Dunedin Botanial Gardens and the petals look like fairy skirts (I have no idea what kind as I'm useless with botanicals) so we'll probably mention things like that as the opportunity arises.
Slightly OT but apparently a great way to get little girls to eat their greens is by making a salad and sprinkling it with edible flowers and calling it a fairy salad.
ETA: My husband, daughter and I are all Catholic so the strongest belief we are instilling in her is the belief in God and good Christian morals and values.
Edited by MrsMojo
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DzinerGirl
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 9:27am |
 kiwisj wrote:
My mum didn't do anything like that but my Nana had a pair of silver babies shoes on a necklace (they're a charm bracelet charm) and always told all of us that they belonged to Tinkerbell and that Tinkerbell lived in her garden. Now all the girls in our family have them and they've become a family tradition I will probably tell my kids that Tinkerbell lives in Nana's garden as well |
That's incredibly cool!
DF (especially) & myself both LOVE Christmas so we will definately be creating the whole 'magic' of Christmas...
also the tooth fairy...wishing on shooting stars...wishes on birthday candles...
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DzinerGirl
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 9:33am |
kiwilaurie wrote:
I can also remember spending hours (well, it was hours in my mind) staring out the window on Christmas Eve hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa.! |
LOL I remember we were driving home from a Christmas Eve dinner and I saw something moving in the sky with red lights, I was convinced that it was Santa's sleigh and it was sooo exciting..I'm glad my parents didn't tell me it was actually a plane!
I also used to love the programme that Jason Gunn would do at Christmas with the 'updates' on where Santa was in the world and how far away he was from NZ 
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MrsMojo
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 9:43am |
Oh, I just remembered something else we did that my nieces and nephew's now do.
On Christmas eve mum and dad would send us out with a big bowl to collect grass for the reindeer. We'd leave it on the porch and a biscuit and beer in the lounge for Santa then once we'd gone to bed mum and dad filled up our stockings and leave them on the ends of our bed, dad drank the beer and ate the cookie and then he'd take the bowl of grass up the road to get rid of it where we wouldn't accidentally spot it.
So in the morning not only had Santa been and left pressies as well as eating the treats we'd left him but the reindeer had also eaten the grass we'd picked.
According to my mum it was a great way to get us (6 over-excited children) out of her hair for awhile.
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caraMel
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 10:02am |
We do that too Jo! We leave a carrot and some grass for the reindeer and a glass of milk and bickies for Santa.
Its so exciting seeing their faces when they spot the empty glass and plates 
We used to get letters from Santa and the tooth fairy too, and I will do this for my children when they are old enough to read them.
I don't really do anything specific to encourage belief in magic or fairies etc, but I do suggest things along those lines to encourage using imagination when playing.
I think these things are some of the most fun things about being a parent for me, bringing wonder and imagination into their lives!
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Bizzy
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 10:40am |
i tell the kids that those dust motes you see in a shaft of sunlight are fairies... and the dandelions, they are fairies too and we blow them to let the fairies go.
last night i told them about the tooth fairy and told them that the tooth fairy will leave a gift when their teeth fall out, but only if the teeth have been looked after, ie brushed.
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MummyFreckle
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 10:42am |
I still leave a beer out for Santa (even if we are staying at the In-laws - my FIL thinks its lovely and always plays along!), a carrot for Rudolph and some cookies. We used to go outside on Xmas Eve and look at the stars and see if we could spot Santas sleigh...it was often snowing (we grew up in UK) and I rememeber how awesome it was being out there all bundled up in our pjs and warm coats!
I grew up with lots of things like this, my mum was awesome at doing them! The tooth fairy always came, the easter bunny left chocolate eggs hidden for us (I do this now with my nephew who is 3, we have an easter egg hunt in our garden!)
I think its a fantastic way to encourage a healthy imagination in kids.......and grown ups! (My DH thinks I am mad sometimes...)
I always carve pumpkins on halloween and put them on the doorstep, I always answer the door to trick or treaters in fancy dress myself...I just love it!!!
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Jay_R
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 1:38pm |
Oooh, this is beautiful
I don't exactly recall any special magical sort of things happening in my childhood outside of the norm (tooth fairy, father christmas etc), but my mum always made those times really really special for my brother and I
I'm going to have a big think about what I can do for Joshua!
Thanks KiwiWonder for starting such a gorgeous topic!
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My3Sons
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 3:02pm |
We have had a few visits from the tooth fairy now, including one (just after bubs was born, sleep deprived and all that!) when the tooth fairy forgot! We ended up telling DS that the tooth fairy has the weekends off cause she needs a rest too lol!!
We also do the wishing fairies, and xmas, easter bunny etc. I remember putting out a bottle of beer for Santa!! LOL pretty sure dad drank it once we went to bed.
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baalamb
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 3:08pm |
I remember being PETRIFIED of the 'Easter bunny'.  I hope Ashlee's not! These things do create some great memories. I can remember getting the letters from Santa and the tooth fairy etc too.
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MrsMojo
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 3:08pm |
LOL, my sis had a similar experience earlier this year. Busy looking after a reflux suffering newborn and an into everything toddler she forgot completely about the tooth that Mr 6 had lost earlier in the day. She was mortified when he came into her bedroom in the morning with a tear in his eye to tell him mum that the tooth fairy hadn't been.
He left (she assumed to go and watch tv) and she lay in bed feeding her newborn wondering how on earth she was going to get around this. Then she noticed noises coming from his messy room and went to investigate where she found his tidying up. He saw her in the doorway and said "the tooth fairy probably only comes to girls and boys with clean rooms right mum?"
I love the way kids minds work!!! Now all she has to do the get him to clean his room is knock out more teeth  - just kidding 
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My3Sons
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 3:17pm |
lol MrsMojo that is classic!! DS thought that was reasonable, after all she works hard and Dad gets to have the weekend off so why shouldnt the tooth fairy?
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Mama2two
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 10:25pm |
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I love these traditions!!! Having lost my Mum so young I can now really appreciate how truly wonderful these magical moments with her were.
I grew up with Fairies under the trees in the garden. There was always a toadstool ring there and my Mum told me stories about how she had been invited out at night to go and dance with them. I remember being so excited to grow up big enough to go and dance with them too.
My parents went all out to make sure we believed in all the magical things like Santa etc. My Dad even had a reindeer hoof print that he would trample through the garden with once we were asleep on Xmas eve.
My Mum always did a easter egg hunt with rhyming clues that would take us through the entire house and garden on Easter morning. It was by far the best part of the day.
I am going to really enjoy doing these same traditions with Sam as she grows up.
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kakapo
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Posted: 12 September 2008 at 10:35pm |
OK, OK, so I am one of (if not THE) most gullible person in the world .... ie when I was ten my cousin said "Did you know they had to take the word gullible out of the dictionary?" and I instantly replied "Really?" with big wide eyes ....OMG can't believe I just admitted that! .... but anyway...
...when I was 5, 6 and maybe even 7, I believed in fairies 100%. Our big old pear tree at the bottom of the garden had a branch with a little hole in it and my Mum used to leave notes in it, from the fairies. She wrote in tiny handwriting on really small notepaper. I think I still have the notes somewhere. I used to write back, and leave my notes in the "fairy letterbox". I used to wish for things, like my pet lamb had a sore leg for weeks, so I wished my lamb would get better, and (who knows how?) the next day it magically was!
I hope we can bring some magic to DS's life too .... but I do hope he isn't quite as gullible as me once he's 8 or 9ish .
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Creating Magic
